Characteristics of unconventional Rb magneto-optical traps

Abstract

We study several new magneto-optical trapping configurations in ${}^{87}$Rb. These unconventional MOTs all use type-II transitions, where the angular momentum of the ground state is greater than or equal to that of the excited state, and they may use either red-detuned or blue-detuned light. We describe the conditions under which each new MOT forms. The various MOTs exhibit an enormous range of lifetimes, temperatures and density distributions. At the detunings where they are maximized, the lifetimes of the various MOTs vary from 0.1 to 15 s. One MOT forms large ring-like structures with no density at the centre. The temperature in the red-detuned MOTs can be three orders of magnitude higher than in the blue-detuned MOTs. We present measurements of the capture velocity of a blue-detuned MOT, and we study how the loss rate due to ultracold collisions depends on laser intensity and detuning.

arXiv comment8 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (8)

• Magneto-optical trapping of a diatomic molecule
• Molecules cooled below the Doppler limit
• Radio Frequency Magneto-Optical Trapping of CaF with High Density
• Radiative force from optical cycling on a diatomic molecule
• Magneto-optical trapping forces for atoms and molecules with complex level structures
• Characteristics of a magneto-optical trap of molecules
• Three-dimensional Doppler, polarization-gradient, and magneto-optical forces for atoms and molecules with dark states
• Blue-detuned magneto-optical trap

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Single-beam Zeeman slower and magneto-optical trap using a nanofabricated grating
• Towards improved loading, cooling, and trapping of molecules in magneto-optical traps
• Role of spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) in laser cooling of atoms